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A Series of Forbes Insights Profiles of Thought Leaders Changing the Business Landscape: Jeff Katz, CEO of Wize Commerce...

“There’s an old saying that with trouble comes experience and from experience comes wisdom," says Jeff Katz, CEO of Wize Commerce that recently launched Price Machine, a new comparison shopping site that helps price-conscious shoppers by providing unbiased insights into when and where to find the best savings. And Jeff has a lot of wisdom to share. He has been the force behind some of the Web’s leading commerce platforms and few understand its opportunities and pitfalls more than he. Jeff was brought in as CEO in 2010 by Wize Commerce’s majority shareholder, Providence Equity Shareholders based in Providence, RI, to bring the Price Machine concept to full fruition.

Jeff Katz, CEO, Wize Commerce

According to research from Price Machine, two-thirds of Americans have purchased a product online, only to see it priced lower elsewhere on the web. This may be why one-third of Americans believe online pricing is misleading. As a result, 9 out of 10 shoppers seek out for information sites and 60% shop five or more web sites. Since consumers care so much about price, Katz believes that shoppers should have an easy way to not only see products listed at the lowest price, but see unbiased results not ranked based on advertising spend, an approach used by most of his competitors including Google. Jeff launched the site because he believes that an internet comparison shopping site can still make money from advertising while showing unbiased results to consumers.

The company’s market is the budget shopper, with household incomes between $50K and $100K. Customers that 'shop hard' as they say in retail, meaning they actively look for the best deals on brands that matter to them. 90% think they are getting the best deal after using the site. “We have our own estimate of the 'fair price'. We put transparency in front of the user. They're willing to do the work and it's pretty hard work at that. We just want to be a part of their consideration set. We make money on either a transaction and or if they go to a merchant's site. It's a pay for performance model. We're working still to perfect the shopping experience on our site," says Katz.

Price Machine is a start-up within a profitable operation. “The site will do $25-$30 million in revenue this year," he says. The company also operates 15 sites around the world, including shopper sites like Nextag, ApplianceShopping and Guenstiger in Germany. “We were early innovators at driving traffic to bring in shoppers who are ready to buy. The company has been profitable. I was brought on by our investors to move along with the tectonic shifts happening at Google, Apple and Amazon--who each own parts of the global web landscape. I came in as these changes we just happening and as the shift came to new platforms for a social, sharing world--like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest”, says Katz.

Price Machine Fair Price Curve

The business started life building Nextag’s prices online and built technology to optimize the shopping experience with statistical processes. "My hopes and dreams for Price Machine is that we create a new and powerful tool for budget shoppers where they know they can come to get a fair deal. We want them to be enthusiastic about the experience. So far it’s going well," says Katz. “Price Machine is currently focused on the U.S., but will start to expand soon into countries where we already have experience and other web properties in Germany, Japan and Brazil. We are also looking to grow into India," Katz continues.

The time seems right for comparison shopping sites, according to Katz. Price Machine has just begun to drive consumer awareness with the site launch in November. "We just took the site out of Beta and will start testing brand advertising. It feels like the early days at Orbitz. I never thought I'd say this, but it's the Wild West on the Web again, just like it was when we were creating Orbitz," says Katz.

“I remember the early days at Orbitz, it was about keeping up with an ever changing travel market. I joined as the founding CEO. We were two guys and a dog in July of 2000. We launched in June of 2001--suffered through the 9/11 induced travel depression, then rode the travel business back up to where we were growing fast. We IPO'ed in 2003 then sold the business to Cendant at the end of 2005. It was five years from PowerPoint to Cendant buying us," says Katz.

Katz left Orbitz once it was sold and then joined the board of LeapFrog in the Spring of 2005. He then became the CEO of the company in 2006 and stayed for four years through 2010. During his the time at LeapFrog, he led the effort to web-enable all of the products so that they became entry points to download new content. He was then asked by Wize Commerce to push the company into the new decade.

Katz started as an engineer. He did his undergraduate work at University of California and graduate work at Stanford and MIT. "I joined the airline industry just as the business deregulated and data analysis became critical. I was a quant jock, but moved ahead because I could use a calculator and talk at the same time,” says Katz. He eventually was made President of SABRE, America Airlines innovative (at the time) electronic booking network and the Web was just beginning at that point.

Katz’ advice for early stage CEOs and entrepreneurs? "I've been through it. I've always been brought in to situations where no one has a better idea. It's good to stay calm and look beyond the horizon. You need an appetite for risk, but the most important thing I've learned along the way is that leadership is about having a thoughtful strategy and a talented team," concludes Katz.

Bruce H. Rogers is the co-author of the recently published book Profitable Brilliance: How Professional Service Firms Become Thought Leaders now available on Amazon http://amzn.to/OETmMz